Yarn tension



June 30, 1953 M. R. FLAMAND YARN TENSION- Filed Dec. 21, 1951 INVENTOR.MAUQIC RFLAMAND f2, 7 kz z/wfi A TTORNE Y Patented June 30, 1953 YARNTENSION Maurice R. Flamand, Central Falls, R. I., assignor to DraperCorporation, Hopedale, Mass., a corporation of Maine ApplicationDecember 21, 1951, Serial No. 262,685

This invention pertains to tension means for textile purposes, forexample for use in controlling the tension in a yarn or thread being fedto the weaving instrumentalities of a loom.

It is a general object of the invention to devise tension means forrunning yarns which shall be susceptible of variation as to the amountof drag to be imposed upon the yarn, and which may be employed forsubjecting the yarn to extremely light degrees of tension. 7

It is a further object of the invention to devise tension means whichshall employ extremely light, thin, flexible plate members which havevery little resistance to lateral bending or displacement and which havevery little inertia to resist their displacement.

A further and more specific object of the invention is that of devisinga tension which shall be self-clearing, that is, shall not be adverselyaffected by accumulations of lint or foreign matter even though usedover extended periods of time, without any special attention beingdirected thereto. Along this same line it is a further object to devisesuch means which may be very effectively dismounted, disassembled, andwhich may be cleaned, or parts adjusted or replaced as may be desiredwith a minimum of effort and '7 Claims. (01. 242-449) ner hereinafter tobe described in detail. .The amount of tension or drag to be imposedupon the running yarn is in each instance controlled by. subjecting theflexible members to a predetermined amount of lateral deflection,bending or bowing a term which will be used hereinafter and theconnotation of which should be clear to those skilled in the art upon astudy of the instant description. The mechanism adapted to impart to theflexible members this bowing may be of a type to be adjusted andfurtherwithout stopping the machine to which the tension is applied formore than an extremely brief interval.

It is a further object of the invention to devise tension means whichshall offer very little resistance and therefore which may be employedwithout subjecting the tensioned yarn to unusual stresses upon thepassage of knots, slubs, or other imperfections through the device.

Other objects of the invention will become ap parent from the followingmore detailed disclosure.

In carrying the invention into effect, the yarn to be tensioned ispassed between a pairof thin, flexible, strip members which are-preferably of spring steel and are 'ofonly avery'few thousandths of aninch in thickness so that the mass thereof is extremely small and theresistance to deflection or bending laterally shall also involve ornecessitate the imposition of extremely small forces in order to effectsuflicient lateral deflection to permit the passage of knots, slubs, orother enlarged portions of the running yarn. These thin, flexiblemembers are so devised as to be loosely, but positively restrainedwithin a holder which may be formed of sheet material bent to properform and slotted for the reception of reduced ends of the flexiblemembers, all in a manmore, may be adjusted by means which is adapted tomaintain a definite or predetermined amount of deflection in the membersso long as the adjustment thereof is left'at some particular valuedetermined by the machine operator.

Again, in another form of the invention as will be explained in detail,the running yarn itself may be employed through certain movable membersto vary the lateral deflection or bowing of the members wherebydifferent conditions. imposed by the physical characteristics of theyarn itself and also by the demands of the machine to which the deviceis applied may be automatically compensated within a reasonably Widerange.

The invention will be described in detail by reference to certainembodiments thereof which are illustrated in the acompanying figures ofdrawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing one form of the tension means whichis adapted to be manually adjusted.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the tension means shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but'flshowing additional means bywhich the running yarn itself is employed to alter or vary the lateralbowing of the tension members.-

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the parts in theposition Which they may assume upona different conditionin the runningthread. elevation of the mechanism Fig. 5 is an end shown in Figs; 3 andFigs. Sand 7 are sections showing in detail the spring means for the armby which the tension adjustment is automatically controlled.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of a modified form ofa f tension member.

Now referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a simple form of the invention involvesa holder I 0 which is slotted or apertured at either end, the said endsbeing bent as at l I at more or less of a angle,

and thereafter being bent inwardly a second time as at I 2, the latterportion being bent at anjangle' movement of the members within theholder.

In actual practice, these thin strip steel members may be punched out oriorined in any other manner and the reduced ends and i6 bent Q form.They may be assembled in the holder by introducing one end in the slotat one end of the holder and then by laterally deflecting or bowing theparts to an extended degree, the opposite reduced ends may be insertedin the slotat the ppo en of the hold r, Once assemb ed here is no likeihood o th p rts becoming siisssembled nder h ihfi ehoe oi an ordin ryforces. to whi h they may e er be su jected his rm oi he invent n heflexi e memers i3 an L ar ad pt d t be t wed late al hr u ho t s m p rcul r exten y means f a t rea d member pressin a ainst one o th ai m brs at or a jac nt i s mid p int This hread d mem e i o rs cap bl f beinadjus to alter the amo n o late al d fle tion and thereby to vary theeffect that the memb r hal have u n a ram unn ng b we n t m. The adusting me ns er es l o t mount the tension unit upon a. bracket It or pn any ther ooh hien p t oi he ma ine to which it may be applied. Athreaded and shouldered sleeve member is having the head P r i n 28 passs throu h a slo or oth r ape ur 2| in h bracket and is look th re by m ao a clampin nut lh s ve 9 is nernal thre d o the recept on f a t s ompos ng d djusting s ew 23 having a nagge h d 24 which is nurled or oherwis roughened to facilitate its use by the machine operator. The endof this screw 23, as shown in ieis in o ta t with th adjacent f ce ofthoop emb 14 and may se v to how the memersthroue out any desir d ndreasonabl xtent.

For the purpose or aintaining the adju moot fixe a sp ing type p nt rmemb r 25 is clamped between the head 20 and the adjacent ace of theholder l8 and the red ed e o hi pointer engages within the serrations ornotches in the head 24 of the screw thereby to prevent unntentio lotation thereof.

The t read if is pas ed through the device in a lengthwise direction asillustrated here and is bj cte to an am unt of tension or dra as h s mpa s s be ween the members whi a otu lly pr ss d ogether w th wh t v r fr e e ults fr m their natural or nher nt r si n and also in accordancewith the amount of de-- fiection or bowing to which they are subjectedat any particular time. Of course, the greater the d e o bowin th more tnsion s pplied to the yarn. When knots, slubs or other imperfections inthe yarn are encountered, the om r pa sed throu h. t ten o memberwithout more than a slight change in the actual tension to which theyarn is subjected as it is drawn since the extremely light parts [3 and[4 offer no appreciable resistance to movement due to their inertia. andthe extrem ease with which they may be laterally bent also serves veryeffectively to permit the passage of these enlarge ments in the yarnsince the ends of the: member I4 may bend upwardly and the intermediateportion of the member 13 may bend downwardly, that is, as the parts arearranged in the figures to which reference has been made. It is to beunderstood that the device may be mounted edgewise and that is, in fact,probably the most preferable way to arrange the parts since then theforces due to inertia of the flexible members l3 and M are moresatisfactorily disposed. The device is also self-clearing in thatposition. However, that is not critical and the tension may be arrangedto operate in any position.

Now referring to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, a second form of the invention willbe described, this form being of a type in which the tension in the yarnitself is employed for varying the effect of the flexible, spring steelmembers upon the running yarn. In h s views th ho der and th t n nmembers are indic ted by si ilar ref ren u e ls to those employed inFigs. 1 and 2, these numerals being primed as they apply to the secondform of the invention described. A connecting means employed to attachthe holder ID to the bracket I 8 comprises a threaded sleeve 26 havingits inornal b re o s ita e di ens on and a ap d to serve as a bearingfor a pin or plunger 21. This sleeve 26 is shouldered at the endadjacent the holder l0 and on passing through an aperture in that holderis riveted overthereby to attach he sa e perman n y o he holder.

Th sleeve .26 passes ou h a uita s t or other ap rt re in t e racket 18an a n t 28 serves to clamp the tension unit which comprises the partsl0, l3 and I4 and also the prin pivo e -rm l er to be de ri d t tbracket; its disassembly requires only a matter of moments.

An arml!) having angularly bent portion 39 carries a curved shoe orslipper 31 of suitable hardened material and of a width suilicient sothat the same may ride upon or press against the thread or yarn Tpassing through the tension. This arm 29 is in turn pivoted on a bearingactually carried at the outer or free end of a rack t 32 which ma beconnected to the ho Ill, for example, by soldering or otherwiseattaching a laterally bent foot member 33 to some suitable surface onthe said holder. The arm is provided with a cylindrical drum or casingmember 34 within which is enclosed a spring member for the purpose ofurging the arm in a clockwise direction, that is, as seen in Figs. 3, eand 6. This drum 34 is actually formed with a flange portion 35apertured to turn freely upon the outer diame er f a h u dered crew g nra y ind cat d by numeral 36 and shown in Figs. 6 and '7, this screwhaving a very much enlarged head 31 and a reduced, threaded part 38which passes through a suitable opening in the bracket 32, being clampedin position by meansof a nut 39. A washer 40 may be employed between theshoulder of the screw and the adjacent face of the bracket and the drumportion of the arm actually turns upon the screw and is confinedlaterally between the washer and the inner face of the enlarged head 31.A clock type spring 4! is at tached at 42 to the inner part of the drum34 at one end, and at its opposite end, is attached by a similar lug orprojection 43 to the central des red amount of tension th ein so t atthe sion members except as. the arm is moved in a reverse direction bythe-tension in the thread as it passes beneath the slipper 3! that, ofcourse,-

acting against the tension in the spring 4! to permit the tensionmembers l3 and. M to assume something more nearly their untensioned or.

straight relationship as evidenced in Fig. 3.

The shoulder screw 36 may be turned after loosening nut 39 and may beclamped in any desired position thus serving to adjust the tension inthe spring fill so that for any thread or yarn being tensio-ned, andbearing in mind the particular purpose for which the tension is toserve, the amount of lateral deflection or bowing of the tension membersmay be regulated within limitsand it is to be understood that themechanism functions best in a position in which the plane of movement ofthe arm 29 is substantially horizontal. At that time, the inertia of theparts and the spring tension are the only forces necessary to beovercome so: that the eifect of gravity on the parts is minimized.

When employing the form of the invention of these later figures, the arm2a is aflected by the running thread so that as tension increases, it isswung to or toward the position illustrated in Fig. 3. That is anextreme position in which virtually no tension at all would be imposedon the yarn. That position is not often realized in actual practice andas a general rule the condition prevailing in Fig. 4 is substantiallythat which one would expect to find in a properly operatinginstallation. lhe arm may serve to depress the plunger and to deflectthe tension members in the event the tension in the thread becomes toolittle, and oppositely, upon the passing of imperfections, or if thedrawing mechanism tends to create a sudden surge of material through thetension, or if the yarn is retarded at the supply end so that it drawsoil less easily, then the arm is moved so as to permit the tensionmembers to assumea more nearly straight relationship and thereby todecrease the actual effect thereof on the passing material.

The normal form which the tension members takes is that illustrated, e.g., rectangular. In some instances it may be desirable to provide lesstension than can normally be advantageously governed by means of therectangular members it or I i which necessarily must have considerablewidth at their ends in order to fit Within the holder and to provide asuiiioiently wide surface for the running thread or yarn. If desired,the sides of the tension members may be cut inwardly as illustrated inFig. 8. There the members generally indicated by numeral 34 haveangularly bent ends 85 and the necessary shouldered portions such as as,but the central part 4? of the member is much narrower and thereforewill offer less resistance to deflection so that for lighter tensionsthe modified form of tension means of this figure serves very well.

In actual practice spring steel of .002"-.G03" in thickness has beenused. These thicknesses of material are found to be satisfactory for avariety of materials and for controlling the tension in filling fed tofilling inserting means of shuttleless looms. For more widely diiferentmaterials and when employed in other installations, the thickness of thestrip stock may be greater or less and experience will show thatthickness which may be best adapted for a particular purpose.

While a preferred embodiment and certain modifications of the inventionhave been disclosed, it is to be understood thatthe inventive conceptmay be carried out in a number of The invention is,therefore, not to belimited to the precise details 'described,but is intended to embrace allvariations and modifications thereof falling within the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A yarn tension device comprising in coinbination a holder, flexible,thin, flat yarn engaging members each of which is restrained at both ofits ends by said holder and between which a yarn to be tensioned isdrawn, and a means for deflecting said yarn engaging members to bow themlengthwise thereby to increase the amount of tension to be imposedthereby.

2. A yarn tension device comprising in combination a holder, flexible,thin, flat yarn engaging members, means forming a part of said holderfor restraining each of the ends of each of said yarn engaging membersand to maintain them in parallelism so that a yarn to be tensioned maybe drawn through them lengthwise in frictional engagement with theiradjacent faces, and means to deflect and bow said members thereby toincrease the amount of tension to be imposed thereby.

3. A yarn tension device comprising in combination a holder, flexible,thin, flat yarn engaging members, means forming a part of said holderfor restraining each of the ends of each of said yarn engaging membersand to maintain them in parallelism so that a, yarn to be tensioned maybe drawn through them lengthwise in frictional engagement with theiradjacent faces, and means for pressing against an external face ofonce]? of said members intermediate the points of restraint therefor atits ends to'deflect and bow said members thereby to increase the amountof tension to be imposed thereby.

4. A yarn tension device comprising in combination a holder havingangularly bent ends, flexible, thin, flat yarn engaging tension members,means for loosely restraining said members in parallel relationshipincluding slots in the bent ends of the holder and reduced, shoulderedportions of said members engageable within said slots, and meanscomprising a threaded member and a locking means therefor for laterallybowing said members to determine the amount of tension to be imposedthereby upon a yarn running between them.

5. A yarn tension device comprising in com bination a holder havingangularly bent ends, flexible, thin, fiat yarn engaging tension members,means for loosely restraining said members in parallel relationshipincluding slots in the bent ends of the holder and reduced, shoulderedportions of said members engageable within said slots, and means forbowing said tension members comprising a movable means bearing againstone of said members and a yarn controlled means affecting said movablemeans in accordance with tension in the yarn thereby to control theamount of deflection of the said members to maintain the tension in theyarn at a uniform value.

6. A yarn tension device comprising in combination a holder havingangularly bent ends, flexible, thin, fiat yarn engaging tension members,means for loosely restraining said members in parallel relationshipincluding slots in the bent ends of the holder and reduced, shoulderedportions of said members engageable within said slots, and means forbowing said tension members comprising a movable means bearing againstone of said members at substantially its mid point, and a yarncontrolled, spring biased arm efiective upon said movable means forcontrolling the degree of bowing of the tension members as required tomaintain a substantially uniform tension on the yarn.

7. A yarn tension device comprising in combination a holder havingangularly bent ends, flexible, thin, flat yarn engaging tension members,means for loosely restraining said members in parallel relationshipincluding slots in the bent ends of the holder and reduced, shoulderedportions of said members engageable within said slots, and means forbowing said tension memhere comprising a movable plunger and guide meanstherefor by which said plunger is maintained for movement in a pathnormal to the plane of said tension members, and a yarn controlled armpivoted adjacent sald plunger, resilient means for pressing said armagainst said plunger and a yarn engaging shoe at the free end of saidarm.

MAURICE R. FLAMAND.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

